A chieftain of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Olusegun Bamgbose, says the Presidency, and especially Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Shehu Garba, is to be blamed for the attacks at the Owerri Correctional Centre and the State Police Command Headquarters in Imo State on Monday.
The fiery lawyer, in a statement on Tuesday and made available to Ripples Nigeria, said the attacksand other pockets of violence that have taken place in the nation in the past few days is expected in a situation where the President is out of the country to spend more than two weeks without a proper handover to his deputy, while Shehu is now the defacto president of the country as he (Shehu) has taken over the running of the Presidency
Bamgbose noted that the Owerri attacks has further shown the inability of the country’s law enforcement agents to contain criminal activities.
The statement reads:
“The security situation has become worrisome. Things are getting worse everyday. This is really sad and very unfortunate.
“What could we expect when President Buhari refused to hand over power to his Vice when he traveled? Garba Shehu has taken over from Osinbajo. He is now the Presidency.
“President Buhari is now ruling by proxy. Where are we really heading to in this country? APC has actually bastardised governance.
“Things have fallen apart, the center can no more hold. The hoodlums, insurgents, bandits and unknown gunmen have taken over.
“How on earth can we comprehend a situation whereby hoodlums sang solidarity songs for thirty minutes at Government House roundabout, went ahead to operate for two hours without visible resistance and 1844 inmates were set free? We really need to shed tears for Nigeria.
“Very soon, Government Houses will be invaded, it’s a matter of time. I’m beginning to believe that President Buhari can no longer handle the affairs of this nation.
“The fact remains that we are now like a country without a leader. What is Buhari still doing in UK when he is supposed to come back to Nigeria and rescue his subjects?
“The issue is that Nigerians are really tired of Buhari. It’s most unfortunate that the National Assembly has become very inactive in confronting President Buhari.
“One would have expected them to be proactive in gingering the President to act decisively or in the alternative, commence impeachment proceedings against him.
“One could remember how Buhari tackled Jonathan in 2014 as a result of insecurity. The situation is now worse. It’s time for Nigerians to prevail on Buhari to resign if he can’t secure Nigerians.
“Certainly we can’t continue like this. This government is now becoming bloody. Nigeria is falling apart. In the circumstance, one will still suggest the need for a National Security Summit.
“We can’t just fold our hands and allow bandits and hoodlums turn Nigeria into a war theater. Buhari should either step up or step down.”